Functional socialism

CAPITAL 131

pretation of history, how does it now stand? What did Marx mean by it? Here is his argument in his own words:

In the course of their efforts at production, men enter into certain definite and necessary relations which may be wholly independent of their own individual preferences—such industrial ties being, of course, correlative to the state of their productive forces. Taken together, all these links constitute the economic structure of society. In other words, it supplies a basis upon which the legal and political superstructure is raised, and corresponding to it are certain social forms which depend upon the public conscience. The method of producing commodities, speaking generally, fixes the social, political, and intellectual processus of life. A man’s conscience has less to do with determining his manner of life than has his manner of life with determining the state of his conscience.

Now if that is not true, it is for the churches to answer. With several pertinent observations on other-worldliness by Nietzsche. For my part, when I am asked if economic conditions mould character and shape conduct, I lose patience. My answer is: ““Good God! Look around!”

We can now also gauge the substantial truth of Marx’s prophecy that revolution was inevitable. At least there is the Soviet revolution. With Lenin’s gloss, Russia, so to speak, stands to the credit of Marx. All the Russian Communists say so. But that revolution came in a way never anticipated by Marx. He never forecast a body of desperate men taking